Journey from the Fall

Summer Screenshots: Hot Nights+Cold War Historical Context for Journey from the Fall August 12, 2020 China’s influence Red River Delta Le Loi Red River Delta Red River Delta ◦ Indochina ◦ Red River and Mekong deltas ◦ Life under French colonial rule Mekong Delta ● Ho Chi Minh, “He Who Enlightens” ● Vietminh ● Hanoi Cold War Domino Theory Battle of Dien bien Phu Geneva Conference The Unwinnable War in Vietnam ● President John F. Kennedy ● President Lyndon B. Johnson ● Napalm ● Agent Orange ● Vietcong ● Tet Offensive America loses Vietnam & the Fallout Thuyền nhân Việt Nam ◦ President Richard M. Nixon ◦ Vietnamization ◦ Ho Chi Minh Trail ◦ Fall of Saigon ◦ Thuyền nhân Việt Nam ◦ Operation New Life The Aftermath in Vietnam About the director, Ham Tran Profiled recently in the PBS series, “Asian Americans,” part 4 “Generation Rising.” Tran cast non-actors from the Vietnamese community in supporting roles in Journey from the Fall. Tran and his team interviewed about 400 people to tell their story of Vietnam and their lives after the war. 1. Vietnamese Communist Re-education Camps (grades 9-12) 2. The “Fall” in Journey from the Curriculum Ideas:: Fall (grades 7-12) 3. The Legend of Le Loi and kite-flying as representations of Vietnamese history and culture (grades K-5) Historical Timeline of Vietnam 15th c. CE 1955 1975-1993 2nd c. BCE Expansionist After defeating 1975 More than 1 Invasion of Red Ming dynasty France in Indochina Saigon falls to million River delta by defeated by War, Vietnam Vietminh & Vietnamese China’s Han Le Loi; Le divided at the 17th Vietcong. US are sent to dynasty dynasty parallel at Geneva troops leave re-education ushered in. Convention Vietnam. camps. th 1975-1995, 10 c. CE Late 19th c. 1950s-60s Vietnamese Vietnamese French colonize US Cold War refugees flee rebel against Vietnam, Laos, foreign policy Vietnam, with waning T’ang Cambodia, sends US troops to nearly 1 million dynasty; win naming it Vietnam; shooting ultimately independence Indochina war begins. arriving in U.S. Inside the Da Ban re-education camp, Journey from the Fall (6:53)“We know you were a high-ranking officer. You don’t have to write anymore self evaluations. We already know about all your Da Ban Camp crimes. You sided with the American imperialists, waged war against the revolutionaries. You’re a traitor to your country, to your own people.”--Communist officer at Da Ban re-education camp “Death is nothing. The day Saigon fell is my memorial.”--Long, during interrogation. Map Source: “The Bamboo Gulag,” by Nghia M. Vo. Classroom Activity for Re-Education Camps ◦ Consider assigning your class in groups or individually to read each of the following sub-sections, “Registration and Arrest,” “Camp Conditions,” “Camp Routine,” “Labor is Glory,” “Rules and Punishment,” “The Prisoners and their Families,” and “Release Policy,” on the website: https://indomemoires.hypotheses.org/2388 ◦ Ask students to present or write a summary of their assigned reading in a paragraph, and then have them do research about other human detainment camps throughout history, from the concentration camps of the Holocaust to the Japanese internment camps in the United States, to the detention of the Uyghurs in China today. Have students compare and contrast the conditions in Vietnam’s re-education camps with these camps in an essay or class discussion. Vietnamese Communist Re-education Camps The Choices Program, Brown University “After the Fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975, every South Vietnamese man, from former officers in the armed forces, to religious leaders, to employees of the Americans or the old government, were told to report to a re-education camp to “learn about the ways of the new government.” Many South Vietnamese men chose to flee on boats, but others had established lives and loved ones in Vietnam, so they willingly entered these camps in hopes of quickly reconciling with the new government and continuing their lives peacefully. According to my father, the government said re-education would only last for ten days, and at most two weeks. However, once there, the men were detained for many years in grueling labor camps.” --Quyen Truong https://www.choices.edu/curriculum-catalog/vietnamese-re-education-camps-brief-history/ (Consider using The Choices Program as a resource for your class instruction, as well.) The “Fall in Journey from the Fall Consider the varied possible meanings of “the Fall.” ● The actual waterfall that Long and his comrade tried to reach to demarcate their freedom. ● The fall of Vietnam, and the journey taken by Long’s family beyond that harrowing moment. ● The emotional and physical toll taken on Long and his family. Long endures torture and ultimately death at the hands of his “re-educators” in the labor camps of Vietnam. After a harrowing escape by sea, Mai, her mother-in-law, Ba Noi, and son, Lai, attempt to begin life anew in southern California without Long, and are left to mourn their separation from him. The “Fall” in Journey from the Fall Go over the following three slides (starting after this slide) with quotes from each of the movie scenes below and then answer the questions in a class discussion or writing assignment. Scene Long at waterfall Boat Scene Orange County, CA Questions How has Long arrived at this What challenges has What challenges have moment? Reading the Mai and her family Mai, her son, Lai, and accompanying quotes, how has faced to come to this mother-in-law faced in Long set himself apart from his point in the boat? their new lives in captors? Why do you think the What is meant by Mai’s America? What director chose to show a conversation about the successes have they kite-flying scene and Long’s son, Moon Festival? Discuss achieved? Discuss the Lai’s, drawings floating away at the pirate attack principal’s quote? Do the moment Long dies? scene--what would you you think he truly do? understands? Why or why not? Long’s attempted escape from the re-education camp (1:05)“If you had killed her, you would be just like them.”--Long to his comrade during their escape from the camps after they make contact with a village woman by accident. “No matter what happens, I have to get this book back to my son.”--Long speaking of his son, Lai’s, book of drawings. When Long dies at the waterfall (1:13), the film cuts to scenes of kite-flying and then scenes of Lai’s drawings floating away. Those Who Left: Escape by boat It is estimated that up to 1.5 million refugees (1:07)“Today is the Moon Festival. I escaped Vietnam, but that about 10 percent died wonder if the young ones will miss from drowning, piracy, dehydration, or Vietnam the way we do.” --Mai, on otherwise never made landfall. boat. By 1979, over 350,000 boat people sought refuge throughout Southeast Asia, with another 200,000 receiving permanent residency in other (1:10) No! I beg of you! Oh God, no! countries. The United States accepted roughly 1 Please, God! Don’t let them take my million Vietnamese refugees overall from daughter! Don’t take her away! My 1975-2000. baby! Take me, not her.”--Phuong’s Source: United Nations Human Rights Commission mother, as pirates attack boat. Those Who Left: Orange County, California, 1981 In the aftermath of the war, Vietnamese refugees arrived to the United States in three distinct waves: (1:16:45) “We feel your grandson has an ● The first wave was comprised of military and government emotional problem. He hasn’t made any effort employees who were middle class, urban residents of to make friends and he doesn’t take his classes Vietnam, and were more educated and seriously. Today he drew this as his Father’s Day proficient in English than those who left Vietnam later. present. And after school he was caught fighting ● The second wave of Vietnamese refugees came from rural with three Mexican boys. You know, Mrs. areas, were comparably less educated, did not speak Nguyen, I know what you must have gone English or were less proficient in through to come to this country. My own English than the first wave. This is the group that mostly grandparents were Irish immigrants.” settled in California. ● The third wave was comprised of political prisoners, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, and others. Source: https://www.labor.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NAILFILES_FINAL.pdf Extended meaning questions 1. What is the meaning of “Fall” in each particular scene? 2. How has your study of the Vietnam War impacted your understanding of each scene? (assuming you are studying the Vietnam War) The Legend of Le Loi ◦ Le Loi was a real king and revolutionary, whose 15th century reign in Annam (later Vietnam) began a 360 year long dynasty. ◦ Le Loi was 20 years old when the Chinese Ming dynasty invaded Annam in 1406. He began a 10 year campaign to defeat a much larger and better equipped Chinese army. ◦ Le Loi’s comrade, Le Lai, sacrificed his life to the Chinese forces so that Le Loi could escape. Le Loi ordered that Le Lai be memorialized for his loyalty and friendship. ◦ Eventually, Le Loi’s revolt was successful, and the Chinese were vanquished from Amman, gaining Vietnam its independence until French rule in the 19th century. The Legend of the Golden Turtle God ◦ “The legend has many versions. According to one, a fisherman caught a sword blade and sold it to Le Loi. The sword was inscribed with the words "Thuan Thien," meaning "according to heaven's will." Le Loi later found a handle that fit the blade perfectly.

Load more